Photography by Lazar Simeonov.
Hundreds of Palestinian and international activists erected a protest village on the ruins of Ein Hijleh in the Jordan Valley on Friday 1 February 2014. Organized by Melh Al-Ard (Arabic for "Salt of the Earth"), a new Palestinian direct action campaign, the move comes in response to Israel’s ongoing attempts to colonize and potentially annex the area.
Activists have been camped out in the village since Friday, and are surrounded by Israeli military and Border Police who are preventing any food and water from reaching the group.
Their attempts to refurbish the destroyed village will continue throughout the week, barring any forecful eviction by Israeli authorities.
The village of Ein Hijleh, which sits just north of the Dead Sea, was demolished and depopulated during the Six Day War in 1967. The land, however, still belongs to the St. Gerassimos monestary, one of the oldest in the region.